As a young man, Vito sailed with his family from Ripacandida, Italy to America on the Andrea Doria with a firm belief in “The American Dream”. He knew if he was willing to plan carefully and work diligently, anything could be possible in his new country. Vito’s dream was to open his own pizza and Italian cuisine restaurant. In 1986, his dream became a reality while working with his wife JoAnne. They gathered their best family recipes, blending Northern and Southern Italian styles, imported many key ingredients directly from Italy and created a menu of delicious authentic dishes. For more than twenty years, Vito and JoAnne built a successful business in Mesa, Arizona and developed a loyal clientele.
The Glessner and Vickery families were a part of that loyal clientele for many years. In 2009, Vito and JoAnne stepped back from the daily operations to enjoy retirement. Ryan and Alexis (Glessner) Vickery took over the thriving Mesa location while Julie Glessner began the North Scottsdale location.
Today, Vito’s guests still appreciate the simple, pure, authentic ingredients; many of which are still imported directly from Italy. While importing certain key ingredients like our Italian meats, aged-cheeses and Italian flour for our hand-tossed pizza crusts, we source our other ingredients locally and daily so our guests are guaranteed to have the freshest ingredients possible. By offering an attentive ear to both our Mesa and North Scottsdale clienteles’ requests, we not only offer the family-favorite Italian Classics loved throughout the world, but our chefs also offer creative, lighter options and an award-winning Gluten Free menu.
The Glessner and Vickery families share Vito’s passion for offering only the freshest, most authentic ingredients and offer an atmosphere of a family community in both of our unique restaurants. We hope you enjoy your visit and become a part of our loyal community!
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